Sew Your Own Bed Skirt
A bed skirt gives your room a professionally decorated look, and with a few pointers, you can sew your own. A bed skirt, or dust ruffle, is a piece of fabric that matches your bedspread and pillow covers. The fabric wraps around the top of your box spring falls to the ground. A bed skirt hides your box spring and the area under your bed with a decorative ruffle. Bed skirts can be expensive to purchase. However, it’s relatively simple to make your own bed skirt. Sewing your own bed skirt will take you about an hour. You will need some basic sewing skills and a few supplies from your local fabric store to make your own ruffled bed skirt.
Start Measuring
Before you can start sewing, you will need to measure the size of your box spring. You will need measuring tape, a pencil and a piece of paper to measure your box spring. Measure the dimensions, length and width, of your box spring with your measuring tape. Note the dimensions with your pencil onto your piece of paper. Add two-inches to each of your measurements to allow for your seam allowances.
Take your final box spring measurements and multiply each of them by two. Add your doubled length and width measurements together. The total of these doubled measurements is how much elastic you will need to buy for your skirt. Add an additional 10 inches to your elastic measurement, and this will be the length of your bed skirt fabric.
Next, calculate the width of your bed skirt fabric. With your measuring tape, measure from the top of the box spring to the floor. Note this measurement on your piece of paper. Add two inches to this measurement, and you now have the width of your bed skirt.
Purchase Your Supplies
Take your measurements to your local fabric store. Determine the amount of yards of fabric and elastic you will need by taking your measurements to a yardage conversion chart in the store. You can also ask a sales associate for assistance in determining your yardage. Once you know your yardage, buy the decorative fabric of your choice for your bed skirt. Make sure the fabric has a minimum width of 54-inches and is washable. Using your yardage measurement, buy 1 1/4-inch of elastic for your bed skirt. In addition to your fabric and elastic, you need to buy a few sewing supplies. You will need a pincushion, sewing pins, a thimble, sewing needles, thread, a cutting mat and a sharp pair of scissors. If you don’t already own a sewing machine, you may want to purchase one.
Wash and press your newly purchased fabric to prevent shrinkage after it’s sewn. Layout your fabric on your cutting mat and position your fabric so the wrong side is up. Use the rulers on the mat, and determine the lines that correspond with your final measurements for the bed skirt length and width. Cut your decorative fabric with your scissors along those lines.
Begin Sewing
Take your cut fabric to your iron and ironing board. Using a small ruler as a guide, press one side of your longest cut fabric edge down a half-inch. This will be the lower hem of your bed skirt. Use your sewing pins to pin your pressed edge into place. Take your pinned fabric to your sewing machine and stitch over your pressed edge. Finish off your stitching and remove your fabric from the sewing machine.
Take your decorative fabric back to your iron and ironing board. Using your small ruler as a guide, fold over your cut fabric edge above your hem, and press it down 2 1/2-inches. This will be the pocket through which you will thread your elastic. Use your sewing pins to pin your pressed edge into place. Take your pinned fabric back to your sewing machine and stitch over your pressed edge with a 2-inch seam allowance.
Fasten a safety pin to the end of your elastic. Using the safety pin as a guide, thread your elastic through the pocket you have just sewn until it emerges from the other end. Remove the safety pin from the elastic. With sewing pins, pin the elastic end to end to create a loop. With your needle and thread, sew together the elastic with a backstitch.
Pin the edges of your fabric together to complete your loop. Sew the fabric together on your sewing machine using a ½-inch seam allowance. Make sure you sew the fabric together with the seam on the inside of your bed skirt. Remove your fabric from the machine. You now have a ruffled bed skirt you can slide over your box spring.
